Rush Goes for Number Four

I hope the fourth time is the charm:

Conservative radio royalty Rush Limbaugh plans to marry this weekend, Zev Chafets, author of "Rush Limbaugh, An Army of One," confirmed to me on my podcast Wednesday.

Two independent sources in the conservative movement confirmed the information.

According to Chafets, Limbaugh, 59, plans to marry Kathryn Rogers, whom he describes as a "lovely" young woman in her early 30s.

Interestingly, Rogers' father attended the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., with John McCain, and her sister attended school in Hawaii with Barack Obama.

Rogers works for the NFL, coordinating events for the Super Bowl. The two reportedly met when she was working for golfer Gary Player.

According to Chafets, the Limbaugh family – especially brother David (also a conservative commentator) -- worry that Rush has no children.

This will be Limbaugh's fourth marriage, according to PopEater.com. His last marriage was in 1994 to Marta Fitzgerald, an aerobics instructor who was married when Limbaugh met her. Their wedding ceremony was presided over by Limbaugh's friend, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. According to Chafets, it was Fitzgerald who first pursued Limbaugh by messaging him on CompuServe. The marriage ended in 2004.

On Tuesday's radio show, Limbaugh announced he would be off the air until June 15, but did not mention marriage. A note on his Web site Thursday says, "El Rushbo will be out until Tuesday, June 15."

According to Chavets, Rush begged his friends and family to stop him if he ever tried to get married again.

I remember when he got married the last time. I was home sick as a dog with pneumonia and was listening to the radio when the fill-in host made the announcement (I don't remember who the host was, but it might have been Tony Snow). That one lasted 10 years and gave us the Marta-designed Rush Limbaugh line of brightly decorated neckties, one of which I was wearing in this old quartet photo:

I had the stained-glass ties in both the green and the black - churches got a big kick out of those.

I wish Rush the best, but certainly his marital history doesn't give me a lot of hope for a long relationship.

There is also word that some Hollywood flack is shopping a non-authorized biographical movie about him, along the lines of Oliver Stone's "W".  You just know how realistic that will be.